I have a final entry before I announce the winner(s). This is from Lorie Thomas, OM for Pediatric Wellness Group out in CA.

Ok…. I wasn’t going to do this, then I thought to myself…. Put it in writing and take ownership and follow through with your resolutions!

What am I thankful for? Working for two dynamic, hardworking pediatricians who had the vision and strength to start a private practice a few years ago when others are selling out. For being a part of this practice from the ground up.

My resolutions? First on my list is to make sure that EVERYONE in our office is as ready as we can be for ICD-10 come October. Prepare a plan for educating everyone and keeping everyone on track. Set a goal of signing up at least 50% of our patients on our new patient portal during the first year. Improve my data collection and utilize the information fully, making changes where needed to improve performance and reimbursement. Make sure that I bring at least one provider to the PCC UC this year, in my 2 years I have made at least one major positive change each year, and with a provider along we can gather even more wonderful tidbits of information. All this along with keeping our commitment to quality patient care.

So many great pieces to this one - improving portal use (with a measurable result), going to a seminar (bonus points for referencing PCC), focusing on patient care. Great work, Lorie.

Now for the prizes. I re-read all of the resolutions and made a few phone calls. I first got in touch with the winner and asked if she would use both tickets I promised. When she said she'd only need one, I decided to award the second ticket to another entry. But then it got tricky...the entries are really all so good. So I called Paul Vanchiere to ask me if he'd help me out and, sure enough, he's going to give a special deal to everyone who even submitted an entry! Each of them will get an email off-line with the details...if you don't hear from me, let me know.

Oh, the winner? I have to go with Dr. Warner on this one. It was a tough call, with stiff competition from Dr. McCray and Lorie Thomas, for example. But simply for making this effort and sharing your goals, you're going to get at least 50% off of a PMI seminar of your choice as my way of saying thank you.